Audi CEO Rupert Stadler (right), and Audi America Head of Electronics Development Ricky Hudi at the 2014 CES.

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It’s kind of funny, in a cynical sort of way, that at the same time the US is dealing with the controversial byproducts of the NSA and the Patriot Act, German automakers are likewise grappling with the troublesome implications of data collection in connected and autonomous vehicles. At the forefront: the notion that consumer data collected by current and future cars could be exploited by third parties for commercial gain.

We know; we’re comparing commercial data collection to government spying, which is sort of like comparing apples to a different, less tasty species of apples. Still, both arguments are fundamentally about privacy.

On that note, it seems that Audi CEO Rupert Stadler has recently taken a firm stance against the collection and exploitation of consumer data by third parties. According to news site re/code, Stadler said at a business event in Berlin last Tuesday that “a car is one’s second living room today. That’s private. The only person who needs access to the data onboard is the customer.”

While consumer data about speed, frequent routes, current location, and driving habits may seem to be of little interest to anyone beside insurance companies and law enforcement, that information might be more valuable than one would think. Advertisers might find such consumer data useful for targeting potential customers, for instance.